Hi! My name is Jenna and I am a rising senior who plans to apply to film school for Fall 2021. I have been wanting to study film since I was 9 and I hope I can pursue this passion in college! Below I have listed most of my stats (what I can remember at the moment anyway haha). If you happen to have any idea what admissions are like at: USC, NYU, UCLA, Chapman, LMU, Pepperdine, Fordham, CMU, Syracuse, or UBC, please let me know! I plan on applying to all of these schools as a film production major and have either business or communications as a minor.
Background:
-Indian
-Middle Class
-Bay Area in California
-One parent with a BA, other with only high school diploma
GPA: ~3.7 UW, 4.1 W
SAT: 1240 (I’m retaking the test in August, based on practice will get around 1390 or higher)
ACT: 29 (taking the official exam in July)
AP Exams (took the exams for all AP classes I have taken so far):
World History: 5
APUSH: expecting a 4 or 5
French: expecting a 3 or 4
Lang: expecting a 4 or 5
EC’s:
-I started and run my own animation project made up of ~80 people from around the world, using the platform Discord to communicate. There are people from the Philippines, Europe, the US, Australia, etc. who are all high school or college students. I’ve done this since I was 13, and we are a profitable project. (4 years)
-Treasurer of my school’s KIVA club (makes loans to small businesses around the world) (3 years)
-Girl Scout Silver and Bronze awards
-Started and teach a monthly art class at an underprivileged elementary school through the YMCA (4 years)
-On the teen board at a local bookstore. We organize events with authors and do panels with them. (4 years)
-Volunteer each year at a local elementary school and help with their musical (5 years)
-Won an award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for my work in Yearbook, the first in my school’s history to do so.
-Journalist in my school’s award winning Yearbook (3 years)
I believe that’s everything! Let me know if you have any questions about any of my EC’s or my grades, etc. I hope someone sees this that can help! Thanks for reading through this
@geckointhetrash Hi. I’m also a filmmaker from the Bay Area as well. I’m attending CSU Long Beach in the Fall for their Narrative Production Program in Production & Directing. I think one of the things that you should expect is that a lot of the best and most competitive film schools require a portfolio especially for the schools you mentioned. A lot of my friends and other filmmakers I know were rejected despite getting really high grades and their achievements, but still apply to those schools. Who knows what could happen.
Another thing to consider. Some of the CSUs have very good film programs like CSU Northridge, CSU Long Beach, and SF State with Northridge and Long Beach being very competitive. The reason why I chose Long Beach was because of its proximity to LA. At the end of the day, getting a job in the industry depends on how good your work is and the connections you make so think about your prospective opportunities when you apply to colleges.
What will matter most is your essays and your film. They want a STORY. Make it clear, make the filming creative and engaging, make it unique and memorable. They need to know your filming style from that, so if you make the film and you don’t see a clear style, then you aren’t going to have a strong application.
Currently you are not competitive for UCLA and USC because of your EC’s, Awards, and especially your SAT score. You really need a big resume, community involvement, awards, etc. And I mean A LOT. UCLA’s film class is very small and has an acceptance rate of about 3%. USC is like about 4-7% (Quoting by memory). They are very competitive and accept them most proved students. A certain type of filmmaker is accepted, so don’t feel bad if you don’t fit their agenda. Good luck with future testing!
NYU is SAT test optional. Your essays and video will almost be 100% of their judgement. Have a clear artistic voice. Don’t be like other filmmakers. Make it special.
Do to scores, you aren’t competitive for Chapman. Attending their summer program helps a lot and if you didn’t then you need to work harder on telling your story in your film. You are at the disadvantage, and the scores do matter.
Fordham and Syracuse, I think you have a decent chance! Just try to get more awards to boost chances and for higher merit aid. APPLY EA if you can. I believe Syracuse is harder to get into out of the two, and again, scores count (SAT).
Apply EA where ever you can and ED if you 100% know you want that school. IT MATTERS SO MUCH WITH FILM. Many of the top film schools get most of their class from the EA and ED pool and very little from RD.
GET MORE EC’S. You need more passions and proof of your adaptability. You are not just a filmmaker, and you need to prove that.
Suggestions
You may want to look at Emerson, Boston University and Vassar (if you get your SAT scores up), and Florida State as well!
Apply for A LOT of film/writing competitions. A lot of wins in small ones will help. Placement in well known ones will help tremendously.
Combine your community service with film and offer to make a documentary or ad for your community/school/volunteer place.
Combine another passion with film and make a story or experimental/documentary film about that.
Branch out your EC’s. Lots of film people have some position in yearbook or a writing club. Get more diverse in your activities (sports, sculpture, ceramics, etc.). Schools want filmmakers who will bring new skills to be used in their projects and their campus.
STUDY FOR THE SAT. You need at least around 1390 ish to be somewhat competitive, especially for schools like USC and UCLA. 1400 and above is ideal and sometimes you can get scholarships for your SAT score depending on the school.
Create your portfolio now if you haven’t. Write out and start filming your short films if the prompts are posted. It will save you a lot of time.
My son is applying to film schools this year. Your story, essays, and portfolio matter much more than stats. Most top film schools are super competitive. @CindyLeuWho is spot-on. Some have admit rates less than 5%. That’s just the way it is.
Here’s some resources to see what are considered the top film schools. It’s only a list so do your own research but it’s a start.
Just chiming in a bit late for future applicants who might find this – community involvement, etc. is great but it is not disqualifying if you have less than a certain amount of it, at least not for UCLA. Most freshman applicants are teenagers and they write like teenagers. Revise, revise, revise. Having work that shows clear vision/is written in a distinctive voice, tells a story with some meaning (doesn’t have to be earth-shaking, but just something that somebody other than you can relate to in some way), and if you’re including film criticism, something with a clear, strong thesis that makes your own original argument about the work – that will put you miles ahead of an applicant with similar stats. This should be self evident – look at the application: how many work samples/pages of writing do they require, vs how many ECs. I’m not trying to discourage anybody who’s deeply involved in their community – that’s awesome, and speaks to your character. But if you’re a film geek and all you do is write, if you’re an amazing writer – don’t feel as though you haven’t got a hope because you haven’t also squeezed in a ton of charitable works.
